EMBED an object

COMP 4, Summer 2005 with Lec-15 Required READING w/Lec-15: REVISED (Excerpts from several sources, including PC Magazine and howstuffworks.com; many Web pages; and more) The individual parts marked OPT’L BUT USEFUL will not be tested on the final exam; but they are certainly worth your time to peruse—useful for any personal computer user. Note: All links and brands are provided only as a service to COMP 4 students; no endorsements by me or the C.S. Department are expressed or implied. Keep Windows OS and your Office applications patched! 17 Aug 2004: According to researchers at the Internet Storm Center, an unpatched Windows PC connected to the Internet will last for only about 20 minutes, on average, before it’s compromised by malware (viruses, spyware, etc....). Aside from running virus protection (make sure your version includes Trojan horse and worm protection); a firewall; spyware protection; and other utilities (all described below), Windows users should keep their software “patched”: that means the many fixes that Microsoft provides for both its Windows operating system AND the Office suite must be downloaded from the Microsoft site (URLs provided below) and installed on your PC/notebook often. For example, sometime in early fall this year, a large number of Microsoft apps that could read jpeg files included a security hole where an intruder could gain control of a system—even if you simply VIEWED a malicious jpeg. By patching your machine often, you can avoid such disasters. WINDOWS OS. Should I install Windows XP Service Pack 2? SP2 is a major patch that Microsoft recommends users of Windows XP to download and install. However, ATN (as of 8 Nov 2004) does not make any recommendation one way or the other at this time; they are still testing it on a number of machines. While it is supposed to make your OS less vulnerable to security problems, there have been conflicts reported (e.g., with other software that’s installed). You should read a little about it, both from Microsoft, but also from an unbiased source. OPT’L BUT USEFUL URLs about SP2: Pros: www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx Cons: www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,117990,00.asp WINDOWS OS UPDATES: It is recommended that for the Windows OS, you have Microsoft do additional updates automatically. When you turn on Automatic Updates, Windows routinely checks the Windows Update Web site for high-priority updates that can help protect your computer from the latest viruses and other security threats. These updates can include security updates, critical updates, and service packs (major updates). Depending on the setting you choose, Windows automatically downloads and installs any high-priority updates that your computer needs, or notifies you as these updates become available. Visit: v5.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/v5consumer/default.aspx?ln=en-us MICROSOFT OFFICE UPDATES: You have to visit the Microsoft site (cannot yet be done automatically unless your ISP or employer is running some sort of Software Update Service over the network; don’t count on it). Do this about once a week. Visit: office.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdate/default.aspx BIOS BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System, and it refers to the fundamental programming that provides a computer with the basic instructions it needs to load the operating system; find the disk drives; read the boot sector of the disk; organize memory; and perform other basic tasks. BIOS is also often referred to as “firmware.” The BIOS checks the CMOS (battery-powered) memory chip setup for any custom settings you have. Users can change those custom settings (that is, the user can write to CMOS) by entering the computer’s setup mode (for example, after pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del, BIOS will tell you what key to press in order to enter setup). Some common setup options include: ─System Time/Date (resetting the system clock) ─Boot Sequence (the order that BIOS will try to load the OS) ─Drive Configuration (configuring hard drives, CD-ROM, and other peripheral drives)…and lots more. UPDATING BIOS. Most users will probably not need to upgrade BIOS. You should find information about the BIOS for your computer on the manufacturer’s Web site; read all info carefully, and upgrade your BIOS only when there is a compelling reason to do so. Do not upgrade simply because a newer version is available. For example, in 1999─just prior to the Y2K problem─many users with older systems had to ensure that older BIOS programs were updated to use a four-byte year (instead of the twobyte year). As new devices and standards change, the BIOS may need to be updated in order to understand the new hardware. Older BIOS was stored in ROM; today most BIOS is stored in electrically erasable memory (EEPROM, sometimes called Flash ROM). To change BIOS, you’ll likely need a special program either from the computer manufacturer or from a major BIOS manufacturer (such as AMI, Acerlabs, etc.), often downloadable from their web site. On some mother boards, you must move a jumper to enable writing to BIOS memory. There is significant risk involved in updating BIOS. If something goes wrong, you can end up with an unbootable machine that’s useful only as a boat anchor. Some newer systems have extra protection built in, including a basic version of the BIOS stored in ROM. If your system does not have a special recovery feature and your BIOS upgrade goes south, you will have to get a replacement BIOS chip from the original computer manufacturer or contact a computer repair shop. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: For more info, try Wim’s BIOS site: www.wimsbios.com. OLE: Object Linking and Embedding Later versions of the Windows OS support a feature called object linking and embedding. How does this differ from regular copy and paste? When you ask the OS to simply COPY an object from one document and PASTE it into another (whether it’s within the same application program or between programs), the pasted object (in the target document) does not retain any link or relationship to the object in the original document. Each are now separate and distinct objects. If I edit either of the objects, my editing does not affect the other object. In addition, a regular copy and paste often will paste the object as a picture in the destination file. However, if you want the object to be pasted in its original format, such as pasting part of a spreadsheet into a PowerPoint document, you’ll actually be asking the OS to embed the object… EMBED an object. Here, one can take an object created in one application, such as part of an Excel spreadsheet, and use the Paste Special… command so that it is embedded as a real spreadsheet within a Word or PowerPoint document, for example. That will allow you to edit the spreadsheet while it’s embedded in, say, a Word document, using familiar spreadsheet tools. However, the relationship of that object to the original file is broken. That is, you can edit either file, but that editing doesn’t affect the contents of the other file at all. LINK an object. This is the most versatile OLE tool, and one that you used in Lab-4 (PPT). Not only will the object maintain its original form & format (such as a spreadsheet that can still use spreadsheet tools within that target application), but the pasted object retains its link to the original document. For example you might go back and edit the original file (i.e., the original Excel spreadsheet) and save it. The next time you open the Word document (which includes that embedded spreadsheet), you will be asked if you want that target file (the Word document in this case) updated to match the original file (the spreadsheet file in this case). The object retains a link to that original file. This is really handy. Note that both the operating system 2 AND the application programs must support OLE for it to work. All versions of Windows OS and MS Office starting with ’97 support OLE. Why PCs crash (Excerpts from numerous sources) Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. Computers are from hell. At least that’s how it seems when your system suddenly crashes, wiping out an hour (or three of unsaved work. Since the inception of PCs, reliability has never been a high priority item for the PC industry. The creators of the first PCs wanted everyone to have access to low cost computing. Corners were cut and tradeoffs were made that ensured PCs would crash far more often than their mainframe cousins. Reliability took a back seat to affordability. The fundamental concept of the PC was to make trade-offs that wound up guaranteeing that they would crash more often. Engineering is all about making trade-offs. It’s not that PC pioneers weren’t interested in reliability. It’s just that they were more interested in chopping computers down to size (costwise) so everybody could own one. When a PC crashes, most of us reboot. When a mainframe or server crashes, with 3,000 users in 50 locations, chaos ensues, and users will demand accountability. Interestingly enough, early PCs had a good reliability record mostly because they (and their operating systems) were simple by today’s standards. Problems started when machines and software became more complex. Consider: the original DOS 1.0 had a few thousands of lines of source code. Windows XP has 40 million. PCs crash for a variety of reasons, including hardware problems, software problems (the vast majority lies here), and user errors. CRASH is a vague term used to describe a number of misfortunes. Typically, a program that crashes is surprised by an exception, or confused by a rare condition, or is starved for resources (not enough memory), or corrupted by a memory violation. A huge percentage of the time, a computer will crash due to a PROGRAM failure of some kind. The program may have run out of memory that the OS allocated to it, or it tried to access memory that it is not authorized to use. Other causes are out-of-date DLL files, corrupt data structures, and even extraneous data in memory. More recent OS versions have more robust memory protection, and are a little more crash resistant. Maybe a program tries to open a nonexistent file. If the program doesn’t have good error-handling code built in, the program gets confused and shuts down. A major reason for crashes is the state of the computer at the moment of the crash. This is the TOTALITY of all information defining the machine’s condition at that moment. This is all the software installed on the system, the software currently loaded into memory, control panel settings, BIOS settings, configuration settings, and any personal preference settings. Today’s desktops and notebooks store an enormous amount of information that is in a state of constant change. Windows and its applications make changes in the Windows Registry without you even knowing about it. We could go on and on, but you get the idea. Another reason: a condition arises that the program’s designers didn’t anticipate, so the program doesn’t handle the condition. or, the program anticipates the condition but then fails to handle it in an adequate manner. In a perfect world, every program would handle every possible condition, but that won’t happen. You’ve already met “run-time errors” in Turing! You’ve also met infinite loops. Sometimes a program gets stuck in an infinite loop. Due to an unexpected condition, the program repeatedly executes the same block of code over and over. To the user, a program stuck in a loop appears to FREEZE or lock up. Actually, the program is running furiously. A good Operating System should intervene by allowing the user to safely stop the process. But the process schedulers is some OSes have trouble coping with this problem. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: visit www.byte.com/art/9804/sec5/art1.htm from whence much of this write-up was borrowed. (Discussed memory leaks, illegal memory accesses, and more.) Managing a system’s state has created an entire industry of third-party utilities. We’ve described many of these utilities below. 3 ENHANCING the OS with UTILITIES: Utilities help to protect your computer system, let you better monitor what’s going on inside, and help you to diagnose problems and get out of trouble. Here are a few descriptions (but by all means not a comprehensive list). Some utilities come bundled with your OS (depending on which OS; and the later the version, generally the more utilities come with it). Many are also available via third-party commercial vendors (such as Norton), or via shareware and freeware over the Internet Anti-virus software (see also Firewall software) Be sure to read textbook pages 191 through 198 first: provides important definitions for viruses, Trojan Horses, worms, and more. You should know basically what these are. Worms and viruses in email: In the past, viruses/worms could not be executed/released unless the receiver opened the [infected] attachment, an executable file. However, some email programs allow the user to configure it to auto-open attachments without even clicking on the attachment. We do NOT advise anyone to do this. In addition, many worms sneak in when someone “accidentally” clicks on the NEXT MESSAGE, thinking it might be from someone they know, and poof, they are infected. Spoofing is a technique used to forge an email header to make it appear as if it came from somewhere or someone other than the actual source. The easiest way to get a virus or worm is NOT to run and keep your virus checker updated. We recommend you run LIVE UPDATE (that will find updates to virus definitions, etc., from the company’s web site and automatically download it to your PC). Symantec.com is a good place to start. Adding special software to search & destroy Trojan horses is also a good idea. Also critical: Surely you’ve read about the vulnerability of Windows products; OPT’L BUT USEFUL: keep your Windows installation patched from windowsupdate.microsoft.com Backup software Described in your textbook, pgs 199-207: However, those pages are OPTIONAL BUT USEFUL readings. One does not need to use special backup software to make backups, however. One can simply copy critical data files to your zip disks, thumb drives, CD-RW, etc.—as long as those are safely stored. The worst thing that can happen to you as a computer user is to have something happen to your data files, whether it be from a virus, spyware, a hard disk error, or user error. Remember these three words: BACKUPS, BACKUPS, and BACKUPS. Browser add-ons While Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, Mozilla, and other popular browsers do fine for browsing the Web, there are lots of helpful add-ons out there. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: The Oct 18, 2004 issue of PC Magazine has an article that discusses how you can “turn your browser, a puny research tool, into a powerhouse.” Compression software The most popular for Win OS users appear to be WinZip or PKzip. Read the optional text pages for more in depth coverage—pgs 384-389. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Ever try to email 15 to 20 digital photos at once? Read this interesting article: File Compression beyond ZIP, from PC Magazine, 8 Oct. 2004. Data recovery utility (“Undelete”) Recall from memory/storage lecture: Data is recorded along concentric circles, called TRACKS, along the surface of a magnetic disk. Data is organized into wedge-shaped sections called SECTORS. 4 A group of sectors is called a CLUSTER—which is the smallest storage unit the computer can ACCESS (read) from a disk. Cluster sizes vary depending on your computer’s file system, the size of your disk’s partition, and the OS. E.g.: cluster sizes typically range from 512 bytes to 32 KB. The file allocation table is an OS file that maintains a list of files (filenames) and their physical locations on the disk (beginning cluster number of the file, with pointers to other clusters for that file). Moving a file from the hard drive to the recycle bin, and then emptying the recycle bin, causes the OS to mark those disk clusters as “can write over” (the first letter of the filename is changed to a special character, and the clusters containing the data are marked as available: but the data are still there; the OS simply no longer protects those clusters. If you delete that file by mistake and then empty the recycle bin, you should be able to get it back (or at least parts of it) with data recovery software, such as Norton’s Undelete. Others: FileRestore ($39, from www.winternals.com; Undelete (~$30, from www.executivesoftware.com). In any case, remember to stop saving to that disk immediately (else you run the risk of the OS writing over those clustersin which case they will be unrecoverable without a lot of expense). Then run a data recovery utility such as Unerase. Files can also become unreadable if damaged by a software error, or a disk or disk drive error. Recovery software may be able to help piece together the parts that are still readable, and make those available to you again. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: : Great article from PC Magazine, 1 October 2003, about how one can recover virtually any disk fileeven if the data is overwritten, or if the drive is reformattedwhich is good news if you need to recover a crucial file, but bad news if you want to prevent others from reading your files (say, from a discarded computer or hard drive). SEE ALSO below: File Shredder Software. Here’s the article: www.pcmag.com/print_article2/0,2533,a=61577,00.asp Defragmentation software (defraggers) When a data file has data added to it (when you Save), those extra bits are likely stored on nonadjacent sectors or clusters, which means that the file, over time, becomes “fragmented,” or, colloquially, “fragged.” Defragmentation utilities rewrite the disk so that all of the pieces or fragments of a file are written on adjacent sectors. Fragmented files take much longer to read, so running a defrag utility can save lots of time. Some versions of Windows come with a defragmenter that can run automatically. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: For third-party software, Diskeeper is a good choice for about $40-60. Runs “in the background” while your computer is turned on. (www.diskeeper.com) Diagnostics software This software helps you to troubleshoot problems with your hardware or software. For example, it can quickly assess the health of a hard disk drive and memory (RAM). It might also list various options for recovering any lost data. Can also test for system conflicts that may also be causing you trouble. Disk Partitioning software A physical drive can be used entirely by a single logical drive with one drive letter, or it can be divided into partitions. A disk-partitioning utility organizes a physical hard drive into sections that contain logical drives, recognized by different drive letters: e.g., C and D. Each partition can contain the same, or a different operating system. (E.g., Drive C can contain Windows XP, while Drive D contains the Linux operating system.) Techies recommend that users partition a large hard disk drive into two logical drives (e.g.: C and D), which can both improve performance, and make it easier to organize and to back up your data files (e.g.: Programs and utilities on Drive C, all user data files on Drive D). OPT’L BUT USEFUL: PartitionMagic is a very popular choice (http://www.symantec.com). File-shredder software As you now should know, deleting disk files does not erase them. Aside from the file still being there, there may also be automatic backup files, temporary files, and other traces of your work, or even your viewing 5 activity. The operating system may preserve traces of your work on unused hard drive space or in temporary files, and anyone with access to your hard drive can recover them with simple snooping tools. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: For more, visit: www.pcmag.com/print_article2/0,2533,a=61577,00.asp A file-shredding program can ensure that a decommissioned computer doesn't still contain last year’s love letters or your annual salary. It overwrites your files with random garbage characters, several times over again. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: R-Wipe&Clean (~$20, from www.r-tt.com); and Eraser (free, from www.heidi.ie). Firewall software (see also Anti-virus software) Described in your textbook reading; firewall software, when properly configured, can create a protective barrier between your computer and the Internet. Can disallow unauthorized or potentially dangerous OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Useful recent article from PC Magazine: “You Need a Properly Configured Firewall.” Some firewall programs: ZoneAlarm Pro; BlackICE Defender; McAfee Internet Security; Norton Internet Security. See also “HOT OFF THE PRESS” at the end of this document. Password managers (excerpts from N&O, spring 2004) Good passwords are not that hard to create. The problem comes when you need to remember a lot of them, and these days most of us do. If you do your banking online, you need one to get into your financial information. Then there are passwords for shopping sites, and reference sites such as Britannica, not to mention your personal account on eBay or Yahoo. This is why password management software exists. Without it, you have to write down dozens of passwords so you can remember them, and that creates a major security risk. With software such as Norton Password Manager, you can set up a single password that handles all the rest, in a format that's encrypted and relatively easy to update. Whether you use password management programs or not, some principles are critical. It's astonishing, for example, how many people, when faced with the problem of numerous passwords, simply use the same one for each account. Which is fine for registering at, say, a news or sports site, but consider what happens if that password gets compromised and then used on your checking account. The longer a password stays the same, the greater the risk that it will be compromised. Symantec's Bill Rosenkrantz recommends changing passwords every six weeks. That's overkill for everyday Web sites, but makes sense for things like your service provider account, a bank account, or a broker. Symantec's recent study of password management showed that fully 40 percent of users set up passwords that they never changed. Couple this with another statistic -- more than 50 percent say they use the same password for multiple Web sites. Such practices put private data at risk and add significantly to the problem of identity theft. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Check out TK8’s password utility: www.tk8.com Plug-ins and viewers Plug-ins (2 examples: programs used to help your software understand certain file formats; programs that extend the capability of your browser—see Browser add-ons, above). OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Some examples that might be considered as plug-ins: Adobe Reader; Windows Media Player; QuickTime; Excel viewer (allows a computer without the Excel application to open and view Excel spreadsheet files—can’t edit); PowerPoint viewer (opens and views PowerPoint files—can’t edit). OPT’L BUT USEFUL: www.illinois.gov/helpdesk/plug-ins.cfm www.nsf.gov/home/pubinfo/plugins.htm 6 Registry cleaners The Windows Registry holds thousands of settings, either for the operating system itself, or for various applications. All of your computer settings─hardware, software, individual users and more─are stored there. Think of the Registry as a large database, the repository of all the information your computer needs to run. Every change you make to your machine generates a number of corresponding changes in the Registry. When you install a new application, you change the Registry. When you set your baby's picture as your desktop wallpaper, you change the Registry. When you change the default font in your word processing program, you change the Registry. It tracks the options that appear on a shortcut menu when you right-click on an object. It contains the location of the uninstall routines for all installed software. Read textbook pages 161 through 163, and study Figure 3-51 on page 161 (but do not memorize the 6 Registry folders, please). Consequently, if you corrupt your Registry, your computer may be left inoperable. The first precaution is to learn and understand all you can about the Registry before you attempt to tinker with it directly: that is, run the regedit program. Best advice is not to do this yourself unless you are sure of what you are doing. Most users aren’t. Even if you don’t tinker with it purposely, over time, the Registry can get loaded down with useless or erroneous entries left by incomplete install or uninstall routines, application errors, etc.. Problems also arise when users move files needlessly. Registry cleaners can identify and fix such problems. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: RegistryFixer (from www.v-com.com), about $49, was top pick by PC Magazine editors in June 2004. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Screensavers A screensaver program displays constantly moving images on the screen after some period of time when no input (mouse movement or keyboard click) is detected. Screensavers were originally created to prevent screen burn-in (leaving a ghost-like image burned into the screen of whatever image was displayed for a long period of time; the image became burned into the phosphor dots). Burn-in is no longer much of an issue, so screen savers are used now for entertainment, or perhaps to prevent someone from accessing an idle computer (requires a password before it allows access to the desktop). SPYWARE! and why you should care Also called: Malware. Subset: Adware Required reading: www.spywareinfo.com/articles/spyware/ Aside from the questions of ethics and privacy, spyware steals from the user by using the computer's memory resources and also by chewing up bandwidth as it sends information back to the spyware's home base via the user's Internet connection. Because spyware is using memory and system resources, the applications running in the background can lead to system crashes or general system instability. Because spyware exists as independent executable programs, they have the ability to monitor keystrokes, scan files on the hard drive, snoop other applications such as chat programs or word processors, install other spyware programs, read cookies, hijack your browser to another web site (e.g., the CoolWebSearch engine).—and consistently relay this information back to the spyware author who will either use it for advertising/marketing purposes or sell the information to another party. A technique known as drive-by downloading, code embedded in pop-up ads or on Web sites that offer FREE songs, games, or even pron, can instruct a computer to begin downloading the spyware program, often with minimal or no warning. Sometimes, those warnings that do pop up are programmed to keep popping up until the user finally gives in and clicks yes. Many users have received a pop-up ad, stating that “your computer has spyware; click here to download anti-spyware....” which can sometimes trick you into actually downloading more spyware. Never answer those types of pop-ups. One user whose machine was infected with spyware found that there were 1,300 spyware-related items on her hard drive. Some spyware authors also sell key loggers, which, if the spyware installs it on your PC, will let the perpetrator see your every keystroke, which could include passwords, bank account numbers, etc. Trojan horses like Back Orifice let hackers not only track your on-line behavior but even take control of your PC. 7 Some spyware you install voluntarily (although you may not even be aware of it) when you use filesharing/swapping services. Let the user beware! Congress has introduced Anti-Spyware legislation; but many servers are located beyond our borders. The best way to protect against spyware is to run an application that identifies and removes it. There are several on the market (see below; although none will remove everything). We recommend you at least scan your system often to find out what’s really on your PC. Spyware was found on the computers of 80 percent of participants in a recent study (2004) by AOL and the National Cyber Security Alliance. FINALLY, articles warning the general public about spyware are starting to be carried by the popular media: A 25 Oct 2004 article in the Raleigh N&O; and they just ran a three-part series in a Greensboro News-Record (Oct/Nov 2004—sorry, I don’t have actual dates available). Spyware can also lead to identity theft. Identity theft jumped almost 80 percent from June 2002 to June 2003, according to research firm Gartner. (PC Magazine, 9 Dec 2003: The total cost of ID theft over the past five years equals $60 billion.) Some of the blame for this staggering rise is due to phishing, a sneaky way to get an unsuspecting victim to reveal his credit card and bank account numbers (falls under the more general category of social engineering). Scammers launch cleverly disguised e-mail campaigns that appear to be from reputable companies such as Citibank, eBay, and PayPal. A surprisingly large number of people follow the instructions, handing over their identities. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Great resources: www.spywareinfo.com/ www.spywareGuide.com OPT’L BUT USEFUL: A few spyware remover programs & info: Ad-aware (www.lavasoftusa.com) Free. Their Plus version is around $27. hyjackthis: www.softpedia.com/public/cat/10/17/10-17-69.shtml Free. A general homepage hijacker detector and remover. SpyBot Search and Destroy (spybot.safer-networking.de) Free. Spyware Eliminator (www.aluriasoftware.com) Around $30. PC Magazine’s 22 April 2003 issue includes a fairly comprehensive article about Spyware, including a full page of common spyware applications: name, danger level, what it does, and common sources (like Kazaa, Grokster, Morpheus, etc.). It also includes a list of Spybuster software, with a summary of features for each. Something else to note: According to SpyCop advisory, someone with malicious intent can use e-cards (electronic greeting cards) that include spyware. When the victim opens the e-card, the spy software is instantly installed. Moral is: don’t trust e-cards unless you know the source! OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Some good sites for tips on avoiding ID theft: www.consumer.gov/idtheft www.mailfrontier.com/ OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Some pop-up ad blockers & spam killers How They Get Your E-Mail Address A spammer has several sneaky ways of getting your e-mail address. Here are the most prevalent:  from your registration at unscrupulous sites (think sweepstakes)  from your newsgroup postings  from your chat sessions  from spambots that crawl the Web for anything including an @ sign on a Web site  from e-mail lists the spammer buys  from mailing lists to which you subscribe  by randomly generating name combinations for your domain  by harvesting all the e-mail addresses on your company's server. EdenSoft’s PopUpCop (~$20), from www.popupcop.com 8 Uninstall software (also in Text reading) Introduced on textbook page 156. However, keep in mind that there are lots of third-party commercial uninstall utilities, as well as shareware and freeware programs, that help remove the DLLs, and edits the Windows Registry. Bottom line: don’t simply trash the program folder and think it’s uninstalled. Remnant files can be hazardous to other programs. A remaining problem, however, is with adware or spyware (see writeup, below). Spyware developers don’t want you to find or remove software that it has installed (unbeknownst to you), so you may not be able to access that software through the Add/Remove Programs in Windows. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: RegCleaner (download.com.com *) is a freeware utility that apparently is easy to use and will allow you to remove registry entries for programs you don’t want on your computer. Once the Registry has been cleaned, and you’ve removed the offending software, reboot your PC. *By the way, that URL is extremely useful! Utility suites Many software companies bundle a few or several different utilities that you can buy for one price. A very popular one is Norton System Works, for about $70. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1091717,00.asp OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Which files are safe to erase? In general, you can erase temp files, and older cached files. But rather than doing this yourself, consider utilities such as WasteWhacker (~$20) that automatically removes unwanted files from your hard disk. It targets temporary (temp) files, files with zero byte sizes, and old cache files. Also consider something like WebSweep (~$20) that automatically erases traces of your previous browser history lists, cached files, and other temp files. (also visit: http://www.weberaser.com/ and http://www.no-trace.org/ OPT’L BUT USEFUL: FINDING Freeware & Shareware utilities Some places to look for freeware and shareware (in addition to UNC’s web pages), which provide many handy utilities: .topdownloads.net/ www.tucows.com www.jumbo.com www.download.com www.screensaverfree.com .DLL FILES. If you’ve ever received a pop-up message: “Couldn’t find ***.dll,” then here is a URL not to be without; you’ll find the most common files that are missing from your computer: www.dll-files.com OPT’L BUT USEFUL: LEAVE MY COMPUTER ON OR OFF? (Excerpts from “Stump the Geeks: On or off?, 12/99, Nando Times─with a little editorial license taken) There is an ongoing debate─should one leave the computer and/or monitor turned on or off when it’s not in use? I do not know any geek who would venture a definitive answer to this question, but perhaps I can give you enough info to make an informed decision for yourself. Assuming the machine isn’t a vital network server (and therefore always in use), there are two reasons why you might leave it on constantly. Most obviously, it is far amore convenient to simply move the mouse or press the shift key and start computing rather than wait a few minutes for boot-up. You can get a computer 9 that allows the OS to “suspend to disk” or “hibernate,” but these still take a few seconds to reload and may not satisfy the truly impatient user (and you know who you are) :-] The other reason some people give for leaving their computers running is that they believe their computer might be damaged by the “transient currents” introduced by powering up. In reality, this belief is mostly groundless. Without going into technical detail, let me point out that any damage incurred by your computer due to transients will probably not shorten its lifetime beyond the three or four years that it will remain useful otherwise. One might be able to make this case for the CRT monitor, where the grid voltage transients are more substantial and the useful lifetime is longer. But I wouldn’t worry about turning it off if you’re not going to use it for several hours. Of course, don’t let your freakish nephew flick the power switch on and off for kicks. Another argument for leaving your computer on all the time is that turning it on and off somehow "stresses the computer's components". For example, when the CPU chip is running it can get quite hot, and when you turn the machine off it cools back down. The expansion and contraction from the heat probably has some effect on the solder joints holding the chip in place, and on the micro-fine details on the chip itself. But here's 3 ways to look at that:    If it were a significant problem, then machines would be failing all the time. In fact, hardware is reliable (software is a whole different story, and there is a lot to be said for rebooting every day). I don't know a single person who leaves the TV on 24 hours a day. TVs contain many of the same components that computers do. TVs certainly have no problems being cycled on and off. Most vendors will sell you a 3-year full-replacement warrantee for about $150. If you are worried about it, spend some of the money you are saving by turning your machine off and buy a service contract. Over 3 years you come out way ahead! I can think of two reasons that you should power down your idle computer. The first is that it saves energy (although your computer costs only about a penny per hour to run; you’d do the environment more good by better weatherproofing your house, or carpooling.) The more compelling reason is to prevent crashes. Your chances of having a fatal operating system crash increases with the time since your last reboot. Neither the Windows nor the MacOS has a particularly advanced memory allocation system, and sometimes a clean boot is the only way to get the jitters out. (Ctrl/Alt/Del, then Restart.) Editor’s advice for your home PC: Leave your PC turned on during the day until you are sure you won’t use it again that day. Turn it off before you go to bed. OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Other resources about Windows XP www.winsupersite.com/faq/whistler.asp www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/default.asp OPT’L BUT USEFUL: PC Magazine UTILITIES Guide From the 8 June 2004 issue of PC Magazine: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1585315,00.asp OPT’L BUT USEFUL: Complete PC Preventive Maintenance guide From the August 2004 issue of PC Magazine: www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,116583,00.asp http://www.download.com/3000-2356-10335582.html OPT’L BUT USEFUL: HOT OFF THE PRESS: FIREFOX 1.0 RELEASED TODAY 11/9/2004: http://news.com.com/2102-1032_3-5443931.html?tag=st.util.print Another place to get it: http://www.download.com/3000-2356-10335582.html LATEST COPY: 9 Nov 2004 4:40 pm 10